Bangladesh advances citizen-centred digital government

Bangladesh has taken an important step forward with the adoption of new data governance and data protection laws. The focus now shifts to the next phase: turning these foundations into data-driven administration and seamless public services for citizens.

In Dhaka, more than 80 senior officials and public service developers from ministries and government agencies gathered for an awareness-raising seminar on modern public service provision under the EU-funded E-ffective e-Governance project. The event brought together senior leadership and practitioners to align policy, legal, and technical perspectives on the future of digital government in Bangladesh.

In the seminar, Bangladesh’s digital leaders — Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant to the Hon’ble Chief Adviser, and Shish Haider Chowdhury, NDC, Secretary of the ICT Division — shared their views on how the country can continue its digital transformation. They highlighted the importance of digital identity, data interoperability, and strong inter-agency coordination as key enablers of citizen-centred public services.

The seminar drew on practical experience from Estonia, one of Europe’s frontrunners in digital government, and explored how these proven approaches can be adapted to Bangladesh’s context. Discussions focused on aligning senior leadership with the technical and legal requirements of data-driven administration.

Participants examined practical approaches to:

• strengthening digital governance and coordination under Bangladesh’s new data governance and data protection frameworks;

• redesigning paper-based processes by using existing and shareable government data and the Bangladesh OneID concept;

• sharing data only for clear purposes while protecting citizens’ privacy.

Through EU-supported collaboration with the e-Governance Academy and the British Council, Bangladesh aims to improve coordination across government, break down institutional silos, and design services around real citizen needs. Together, these efforts are laying the foundations for an interoperable, secure, and citizen-centred digital government in Bangladesh over the next two years.